


Instincts

by LilGayNerd



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Animal Instincts, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Fluff, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, Miraculous Side Effects, Miraculous Team, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:21:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25901227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilGayNerd/pseuds/LilGayNerd
Summary: When the heroes were first given their Miraculous, one thing the Kwamis neglected to tell them were the side effects, namely, acting like the animal they're associated with.
Relationships: Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 20
Kudos: 277





	1. Ladybug - Aphids

**Author's Note:**

> First fic in this fandom!

When Marinette became Ladybug, she wasn't expecting too much change to her everyday life. Sure, she'd have to go running out whenever akumas appeared, and she'd had her fair share of humiliation from a thoughtless lie to get her out of class, but other than that, she imagined there wouldn't be anything else weird in her life

That lasted until one day at the park

It was lunchtime, and she'd decided to meet up in the park to have lunch with Alya, and had made it there before her best friend and was waiting for her to show up, already eating so she didn't have to rush later.

She noticed a little bug crawl up her leg, and watched it, only half interested.

She should probably brush it off, but for some reason, imagining it falling on the floor seemed gross, so she just watched its progress.

The little bug began to crawl towards her other leg, starting downwards as it approached the edge between.

It was going to fall off, so Marinette quickly picked it up and ate it.

…

Wait…

Marinette gagged, but she'd already swallowed, so there was no chance of getting it out without throwing up.

"Oh my god…" She breathed.

"What is it?" Tikki asked, looking out from the opening of the purse to check for passers by.

"I just ate a bug! I just… Picked it up, and ate it!" Marinette practically squealed, shock and horror in her voice.

"Oh, yes, this has happened with some of my past Chosen." Tikki admitted. "You'll end up with Ladybug traits, though it can be a mix which ones you get."

"This is really bad Tikki!" Marinette whisper-shrieked. "I'll start eating bugs, and people will look at me weird, and I can't just say 'oh, it's just because I'm Ladybug', so they'll assume I'm just some freak, and nobody will want to be around me, and Adrien will be one of them so we'll never fall in love and my life is  _ ruined _ ." 

"Hey, it's not that bad!" Tikki reassured her, darting out to give her a pat on the hand. "You can control it - it just snuck up on you here, because you're already eating and it never happened before! Everything will be fine!"

"Okay, okay." Marinette reassured herself. "So is that it? Just feeling the need to eat bugs sometimes?"

"I don't really know for sure. You might develop other traits later, or not get any at all!" Tikki said, smiling.

"I hope that's all…" Marinette sighed, but quickly sidelined that train of thought as she saw Alya approaching and waved.


	2. Ladybug - Hibernation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally listed this as a oneshot initially, but I fully intend to add more chapters, so sorry for any confusion.

Marinette had never particularly had any feelings towards winter as a season, good or bad. On one hand, it was super cold, and didn't even snow anymore (thanks global warming), but on the other hand, there was hot chocolate, and Christmas, and most importantly, the winter holidays allowed her to sleep in.

Those, however, were over a month away, so now Marinette just had to deal with the struggle of getting out of bed when the bed was warm and outside wasn't and she really really wanted to go back to sleep.

She hadn't slept well all through the winter, and on the walk to school she always felt like she was dead on her feet until she managed to sit down, where she'd start to wake up enough that by the time class started, she could at least pretend to pay attention.

Akumas hadn't stopped, and luckily the suit kept her nice and toasty, like she was wearing a big, thick coat instead of the skintight supersuit it was.

Because of this, she decided that it would be a good idea to meet up with Alya, Adrien and Nino to go Christmas shopping in the outdoor market that weekend.

She was bundled up in her coat, scarf and gloves, but the cold wind still bit at her face, and she shivered slightly. Hopefully the trees at the park would keep the wind away.

Marinette trudged to where they were meeting by the park, yawning as she went. Hopefully she'd catch up on sleep at the weekend - she always felt more well rested when she woke up nearer noon, where warm sunbeams could land on her face.

She still felt tired even as she saw her friends, giving a sluggish little wave as she approached, a sleepy smile on her face.

"What took you so long? Get caught up in designs again?" Alya asked as she approached.

"Just slow today. Feeling tired." Marinette said, a yawn emphasising her point.

"Well wake yourself up! We've gotta make the most of this before everyone's busy with families and stuff ready for Christmas!" Alya said, grabbing her arm as they moved off towards the market.

Despite the bustle of the market, the twinkling lights above, and most importantly Adrien, excitedly taking it all in. Marinette couldn't help but space out, her tiredness really getting to her. She knew if she laid in bed right now she'd fall right asleep, and honestly, the thought of bed didn't really help her tiredness much.

"-nette, Marinette, are you okay?"

Marinette blinked herself into reality, her friends worried faces before her.

"I'm alright, just spaced out for a minute." Marinette said sheepishly.

"Maybe you should sit down, just in case?" Adrien said, glancing around at the others for approval.

"There's a box over there to sit on." Nino said, pointing out an upside down crate sat between two stalls, and Marinette found herself moving towards it, though she didn't care to look up and see whether she was being dragged or just walking herself over.

Sitting down, however, was her own action, and once she did she almost immediately felt more relaxed. She could really fall asleep right here, if only there was something to lean against…

She looked over at the stall next to her, seeing a metal pole that looked like it could definately take her leaning against it.

_Good enough_

And just like that, she was asleep.

***

Warm.

Marinette was somewhere nice and warm, and she smiled.

There were warm blankets around her, and she clutched them closer as she started her journey up towards consciousness, taking her time.

There was an annoying beeping noise near her. She frowned at the noise, reaching her arm out to where her alarm would be, but met only empty air.

"Wha..?"

Marinette opened her eyes and looked around.

This was _not_ her bedroom.

There was a blue curtain pulled round her bed, though it wasn't exactly _her_ bed.

It was a hospital bed.

She thought back to the last thing she could remember, which was...feeling sleepy at the market? Maybe she wasn't paying attention and tripped and hit her head. Right in front of Adrien too.

She groaned, flopping back into the bed. Whatever happened, Adrien must've seen. What must he think!

She mentally shook herself. No, he was too nice to think badly of her for whatever happened, Tikki would probably tell her as much.

Thinking about Tikki, she touched her ears. Her earrings were missing!

"No no no no…" She muttered, looking round. There was a side table on one side, so she looked in that. There was a piece of paper, but it looked all doctor-y, so she ignored it.

"Marinette?" A voice asked, before a lady pulled back the blue curtain enough to step in, wearing a hospital uniform.

"What happened?" Marinette asked. "Is this a hospital?"

"Yes, you're in hospital right now. My name's Sarah, and I'll be looking after you whilst you're here. Tell me, how do you feel?" The lady - Sarah - asked

"My memory's fuzzy, but I feel pretty okay?" Marinette said.

"How fuzzy is fuzzy?" Sarah asked.

"Well, the last thing I remember was we were at the market, and I was feeling sleepy, but regular sleepy! I feel like that all the time! And then I woke up here!" Marinette said.

"Okay, that's good. Well, what happened was not too soon after that, your friends thought you needed a sit down - a good thing, seeing as how you collapsed straight after. They couldn't wake you up, so they called you an ambulance. That was Saturday." Sarah said.

"Is it...no longer Saturday?" Marinette asked.

"It's Wednesday." Sarah said, matter-of-factly.

"It can't be Wednesday! I wasn't that tired, I swear!" Marinette said, surprised.

"You were in a coma, Marinette." Sarah said. "It’s not your fault. Just try to get better, and us doctors can worry about what's happening, okay?" Sarah said, giving Marinette a reassuring smile.

"...Okay." Marinette agreed.

***

Even though she felt fine, Marinette still had to wait until the end of the week to be let out of hospital, and even then was told she should stay home from school for another week just in case something happened again.

It turned out they took her earrings off to give her a scan, and her mum had got them on one of the various visits that both of Marinette's parents took as they fretted over their daughter.

Tikki, once she was safely back in Marinette's care, explained what happened.

"You went into hibernation." Tikki told her once they were at home and out of risk that someone could overhear. "I'm sorry, I should've seen the signs. When you're transformed, you'll be protected from the ambient temperature, but without it the temperature will make you very tired."

"So what, I can't go outside until the temperature goes back up?"

"You'll be fine to and from school, just not too long. Certainly no more extended outings like that!"

"Okay, good." Marinette said.

***

With all of her time spent in her room, Marinette was happy for company, beaming at her friends when they came up the ladder.

"Hi guys!" She said, getting up to givd hugs. She paused, however, when she saw the bouquet in Adrien's hands.

Seeing her gaze, Adrien held the flowers in offering.

"I thought flowers would be nice? I, um, they give people flowers in movies and stuff?" He said, pulling the flowers back a bit, as though embarrassed.

"No! I mean, thank lovely! They you! Wait, no, I mean…" Marinette looked around for help. "Vase!"

She grabbed the glass of water and held it similarly to how Adrien was holding the flowers, offering. Adrien smiled, putting the the flowers in the glass. Marinette smelled one. It was nice.

(Shs glanced down, but unfortunately, there were no bugs, aphids or otherwise)

She put down the flowers in a patch of sunlight and turned to her friends.

"How has everyone been?" She asked.

"How have _we_ been!" Alya said, incredulous. "The girl's been in actual hospital but she asks us how we are!" She looked at the others whilst gesturing at Marinette, in a 'look at what I have to deal with' look.

"You really scared us dudette." Nino said. "Adrien looked like he was about to have a heart attack!"

Marinette blushed at that,

"You're...you're okay now, right?" Adrien asked. Marinette nodded. "If you weren't feeling well, you could've told us."

"Of course I would! I just…" Marinette said, "I just felt...tired? The doctor said it was stress."

"Okay, that's it, I'm banning homework." Alya said, hands on hips. "If it's hospitalising my bestie, it doesn't deserve to exist anymore!"

"Wait, the homework! I've missed so much!" Marinette yelped. "I can't catch up in time, I'll never make it! My grades will slip and-"

"Chill out! Miss Bustier said you were excused from homework, and apparently she's going to be getting you back up to speed later, no homework required."

"Oh my god she's a lifesaver." Marinette breathed, coming down from her panic.

"Yup! Now, we might as well make the most of our time here…" Alya said, immediately jumping into gossip. No akumas, which was one of the first things Marinette asked once she got her earrings back, but other than that, it was all new, and Marinette was happy to sit back and enjoy the time she missed out on with her friends.


	3. Chat Noir - Communication

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Abandoned hungry kittens. Nothing bad happens to them and they're rescued

Adrien smiled as he walked home from school. He'd finally convinced Nathalie to let him walk home instead of being driven. Technically, he was supposed to walk with his bodyguard at all times, but the Gorilla seemed happy to just shadow Adrien from afar, and Adrien certainly wasn't going to complain.

He was just passing in front of an alleyway when he heard a voice coming from it.

"Help…"

The voice sounded young, much younger than Adrien, and he automatically turned into the alley to see what was wrong.

"Somebody help…"

"Where are you mummy…"

"Hungry…"

More voices spoke, each just as young as the first. Adrien looked around the alley, but all there was out here were a bunch of cardboard boxes, nothing big enough to hide a group of little kids, no matter how small.

"Where are you?" Adrien asked, though he kept his voice low so he didn't scare them.

"Over here!"

"Help!"

"Can't get out!"

Adrien moved towards the voices, finding that they came from…

A box full of kittens?

"Help!" One of the kittens said.

Looking at them, it was clear what had happened. Someone had abandoned them in this box, and the kittens were too small to climb out of the box by themselves, so they were trapped.

"I'll help you, don't worry." Adrien promised, thinking. They would probably have the best chance at an animal shelter, but he was probably going to get in trouble for coming down this alleyway as it was.

At that moment, a large shadow fell over Adrien, and he turned to see the Gorilla at the entrance to the alleyway.

"There's kittens here! I had to save them!" Adrien said, gesturing to the box.

The Gorilla came over, looking at the box of kittens before seemingly coming to a decision and taking out his phone. Adrien sighed quietly to himself. Next Nathalie would be called, who would alert his father, and he wouldn't be allowed to walk further than the distance from his room to the car ever again.

All of a sudden, he was presented with the phone, finding himself taking it mostly without thinking, before looking at the screen. It was open on the notes app.

_ There is a shelter near here, if we're quick Nathalie won't notice the difference. _

Adrien's face lit up with a smile.

"Yes, this is perfect, thank you!" He handed the phone back before moving to pick up the box. It was heavy, and when the Gorilla took it from him, he didn't complain.

***

_ Adrien Agreste sighted rescuing abandoned kittens _

Nathalie gave the article under the headline a brief glance. It was rarely beneficial for any celebrity to be caught on camera while out and about, especially when young, but the article certainly painted him in a good light, so at least there was that.

Regardless, Nathalie really ought to tell Mr Agreste about this. She pulled up an email, then hesitated.

The article was connected to a smaller news site, and most of the pictures were from behind or some other awkward angle, so at a glance you wouldn't be able to tell it was him.

It would make sense, then, that Nathalie might not see it. After all, scouring news sites 24/7 wasn't part of her job description, so unless it came up somewhere more obvious...

What Mr Agreste didn't know surely wouldn't hurt him.

Satisfied, Nathalie deleted the empty email and went back to work.


	4. Rena Rouge - Scream

Rena Rouge was now a permanent hero, and Alya couldn't be happier. Sure, she still sat out a few of the easier fights, but now there was less of the anxiety of 'oh god what if Ladybug needs to find me', and more trying to come up with excuses when she needed to leave.

Most importantly, however, was that she got to hang out with Trixx more, able to have actual conversations that were more than just 'hey, nice to see you again, let's pounce'.

As of right now, however, Alya was walking to school, and so Trixx was hidden away, the foxtail necklace the only sign of her secret side job.

She turned round the last corner before the school came into sight, and she saw Nino chatting to Adrien on the front step. Smiling, she waved, opening her mouth to yell hi.

What came out certainly wasn't anything near 'hi'.

A blood-curdling scream ripped out of her throat and echoed down the street, making everyone around jump a mile, including Alya herself.

Alya pretended to look around for who screamed, then, upon not seeing any signs of an akuma, turned and walked towards the school, trying her hardest to look surprised and completely innocent.

As she came up to the boys, Nino spoke.

"Alya, babe, did you just...scream?" Nino asked, raising an eyebrow. Alya swore internally.

"Of course not!" She replied, laughing. "Why would I scream? I don't even scream at akumas!"

"Yeah, I guess that would be weird." Nino laughed with her, though seemed a little confused still, as they all started to walk into school together.

"Maybe someone saw a regular butterfly that looked like an akuma and got scared?" Adrien suggested. "Apparently that happens a lot."

"Yeah, that's probably it." Alya said, then quickly changed the subject to homework, though the incident stayed on her mind. It was definitely something she wanted to talk to Trixx about later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this headcanon that people in Paris freak out whenever they see butterflies that look kinda like akumas


	5. Chat Noir - Little Red Dot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda feel like it's weird for the heroes to have regular patrols. Like, you could just put a really loud alert on your phone for akumas when you're asleep, it's not like they're subtle
> 
> Tho I get how convenient they are for plot reasons at times, and having train-the-team meetups works basically the same way

Chat grinned with glee as he soared over the Parisian rooftops. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd snuck out for 'patrol', but this time, instead of wanting to get out of the house for a bit and putting an important-sounding label on it, he was actually doing something important.

Since Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee had all become full-time heroes, he and Ladybug were taking the time to train them, make sure everyone could work together as a cohesive unit, that sort of thing. Yes, they seemed capable enough when they were part-timers, but they hadn’t all fought together as a group before, and luckily the divisions between them had been picked up by previous training sessions, rather than akumas.

Two figures came into view ahead, sat side-by-side on the roof they were all meeting at. Chat could recognise his Lady’s signature pigtails anywhere - the only time he’d been wrong was one time mistaking her for Marinette - and he doubt that his Lady would sit so close to Volpina, so the other figure must be Rena Rouge.

They had their backs to him, and he smirked. He could never surprise his Lady, no matter how hard he tried, but he imagined it would be fun to make Rena jump.

His footsteps were as silent as they were fast as he raced towards the edge of the last roof before he lept the gap, flying past the two and coming to a running stop, turning around as though to say ‘ta-da!’

He missed Rena’s first reaction in the moment he was stopping, but had a hand over her heart in a ‘you scared the life out of me’ gesture. His Lady raised an eyebrow at him, though he could tell in her eyes she still found it at least a little funny.

“Holy- Chat, oh my god, don’t  _ do _ that!” Rena said, though she seemed more shocked than annoyed, a smile breaking out on her face.

“What, not turn up and leave your training all on Ladybug?” He joked, fake-swooning at the terrible thought.

“Well, she does bring better snacks.” Rena quipped, smile turning into a smirk as she gestured to the goodie bag next to Ladybug, a nondescript carrier bag no doubt full of tasty treats.

“Those are for the Kwamis!” Ladybug protested, wrapping a protective leg round the carrier bag, as though they were going to snatch it up.

Rena gave an annoyed sigh at ‘Kwamis’, dramatically flopping sideways. Chat’s ears pricked up as he recognised the noise.

“Having kwami trouble?” He asked, excited. As much as he loved being Chat Noir and appreciated Plagg for helping him, the little god was as annoying as his favourite cheese was smelly. He’d tried to vent to Ladybug once, but apparently her Kwami was super helpful, cheering her up whenever she felt down, coming up with ideas whenever she was stuck with something. He couldn’t help but be jealous, and although he didn’t wish Plagg’s nonsense on anyone, it might be nice to commiserate Kwami nonsense with someone.

“Yeah! Trixx didn’t even bother to tell me about the side effects of the Miraculous until it happened!”

“Oh, are you talking to foxes? Where did you even find a fox to talk to?” He asked, surprised.

Rena’s eyes widened at him.

“No way! You talk to cats? That’s way cooler!” She said, sitting up, intrigued.

“Wait, what do you do?” He asked. Rena glanced at Ladybug, who shook her head.

“If you two knew eachother you’d figure out her identity with it.” Ladybug said. “Same with one of mine.”

Secret identities really sucked sometimes. Chat was ready to leave it at that, but then Rena’s face lit up in realisation.

“Wait, one?” Rena said, turning to Ladybug. “You said you couldn’t tell me anything - what’s your other side effect?”

“Uh…” Ladybug said, clearly caught out. Well, as long as it didn’t reveal secret identities…

“Please tell us?” Chat asked, sitting down before her so he could look up at her with big kitty eyes and a sad pout. She caught his eye and he saw her resolve break, gloved hands coming to cover her face as she spoke.

“Okay, okay, fine!” She peeked out and he gave her a big, cheeky smile, before she returned to her ‘hiding place’.

“I ate a bug!”

If this was a cartoon, Chat’s jaw would’ve dropped to the floor, and he imagined Rena’s would’ve done the same.

Rena was the first to break the surprised / embarrassed silence.

“Isn’t that cannibalism?” She asked, and Ladybug’s hands flew away from her face to slap against her legs, her face starting to rival her suit.

“That’s what I thought! But apparently ladybugs eat bugs, and you know what the worst thing is?” She asked, making eye contact with Rena as she spoke. “It wasn’t actually that bad.”

“Oh, ew. Actually, I change my mind, my side effect isn’t that bad.” Rena said.

“Wait, do you just...see a bug, and put it in your mouth?” Chat asked. “Like you can’t help it?”

“I can if I concentrate, though my other one is completely out of my control.” Ladybug admitted.

“Wait, if you have two side effects, we could have two!” Rena said, the possibilities dancing behind her eyes, before those eyes set upon Chat. “Wait, oh my god…”

Ladybug seemed confused for a second, then it seemed to dawn upon her.

“We probably shouldn’t look for side effects…” She said, though didn’t seem to be protesting too hard.

“I get taken control of by akumas enough, let alone akumas bringing catnip and laser pointers…” Chat said. Rena’s grin widened, and she quickly summoned Mirage before anyone could stop her.

A little red dot appeared on the ground, wiggling slightly as Rena grinned, waiting.

"Come on, try and get it, you know you want to." Rena said through her grin. He shook his head, not looking at it.

"You know…" Ladybug began, not making eye contact as the other two looked over at her. "I reckon it wouldn't be an issue in battle, since you'll be concentrating on fighting the akuma, but just for fun maybe…"

Chat was never one to disappoint his Lady, even if it meant Rena might laugh at him - Ladybug might laugh too, and he liked her laugh. So he crouched down in front of the dot, making a little show of sighing dramatically, before staring at the dot.

It wiggled from side to side, and he waited. He didn't know what to expect, but whatever it was, it wasn't happening immediately, and he went to tell them as such.

As soon as he thought that, the dot zoomed off to the side.

"Get back here!" He yelled, rolling sideways to catch the errant dot. No way was it getting away that easy! It had stopped a little way out of his reach, and he rolled his hips so his feet were back under him as he watched it, wiggling away again like it hadn't a care in the world.

He pounced at it, but his hands slapped against the grey of the roof as the dot zoomed out of his reach again.

He growled at it, before readying himself to pounce. It couldn't evade him forever.

***

"I'll get you eventually!"

Chat's voice rang out over the rooftops, surprising Queen Bee. She was on her way to the meetup where they’d be getting trained - fashionably late, of course - and she internally sighed. She was already missing out on beauty sleep as it was, but if there was an akuma the training would have to be postponed until later, and she’d miss out on even more sleep, and then she’d end up napping in class like that Dupain-Cheng, and she just couldn’t have that as her reputation.

Regardless, she was a hero, and so she picked up the pace towards the sound, finding herself a little curious when she realised it came from the exact same roof they started from.

She landed on the roof, coming to a stop as she surveyed the scene before her, her curiosity turning into surprise at what she saw.

The first thing she noticed was that there was no akuma. The second thing she noticed was that Chat was on the floor, rolling and pouncing about. The third thing she noticed was the dot, and her eyes travelled to the others - it seems she was the last to arrive, and everyone else was a mix of trying not to laugh their heads off (Ladybug and Rena), and being too shocked to do so (Carapace, though it likely wouldn’t last long).

Then Queen Bee noticed Rena’s necklace, which beeped as it went down to the last section of the fox tail, and she cleared her throat.

Rena’s attention snapped to her, then she realised what Queen Bee had seen, and suddenly ran behind the little shed that housed the stairs down into the building. There was a flash of light as she detransformed, the dot going with her, and Rena's kwami flew out and ducked into the bag Ladybug had brought with her.

Once Chat realised the dot was nowhere to be found, his expression was one that, in hindsight, Queen Bee wishes she’d caught on camera. He sat back into a more casual position, one a regular human might find decently comfortable, seemingly shaking off whatever stupor he’d been in before. He was side-on to the rest of them, so at first it was as if he forgot they were there, but once he did, his face flushed red as Ladybug’s suit.

“Oh.” Was all he said.

“Dude, what was that?” Carapace asked. Chat looked away, so it was up to Ladybug to answer.

“We’ve been figuring out side effects of using the miraculous, and I guess that was one of them.” She said, her laughter seemingly dying out, though it didn’t take away the smile she was currently wearing.

“Rena got mad I didn’t tell her about hers.” Rena’s kwami said, coming out of the bag holding half a macron, continuing to eat it after speaking.

“Wait, are me and Queenie going to get side effects?" Carapace asked, eyes widening slightly beneath his mask.

"Probably." Trixx shrugged, finishing the macron before leisurely floating in the general direction of Rena, before getting sucked back into the miraculous as she retransformed.

"Don't worry guys," Rena said as she came back round the corner, "I've got everything recorded." She motioned to her flute as Chat groaned.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" He said, before dramatically flopping down in a starfish shape, likely just for Ladybug's reacting giggle.

As Rena showed Carapace the video and Ladybug tried to reassure Chat that the others still looked up to him, honest, Queen Bee couldn't help but feel warm inside.

Sure, she might be surrounded by idiots, but they were  _ her _ idiots, and she'd be damned if she let Hawkmoth or anyone else take them away from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't mean for the ending to seem so final, but tbh it's hard to figure out where to end more dialogue-centric chapters


	6. Queen Bee - Flowers

"Ugh, being a good person is  _ hard _ ." Chloe whined, flopping backwards on her bed for a moment before her restlessness overtook her and she swung her legs round till her feet hit the floor and she begun pacing as Pollen watched from her place hovering in midair.

"I've got sorry-I-was-a-bad-person-can-we-start-over presents for almost everyone, but ironically, I'm stuck on Sabrina!" She said, before managing to sit down in the most dramatic way possible on the sofa in her room, staring off into the middle distance with a sigh.

The middle distance just so happened to be a vase of fresh flowers, but Chloe didn't pay that any mind.

"Don't you get Sabrina gifts all the time?" Pollen asked.

"Yes, but those have all been to get her to shut up about me being a bad person, which is the opposite of what I want!" Chloe said, pulling a flower out of the vase that had been pushed above the water level by the other plants and putting it back in in a less crowded spot.

"Maybe just get her something different this time?" Pollen suggested, floating closer to her Queen.

"Like what? Everything I've gotten her has been all the best of the best, so it's not like I can outdo that. And I'm not exactly Dupain-Cheng, I can't just make her something unless I want her thinking I'm mocking her or something." She said, fidgeting with the flowers in the vase as she spoke. 

She brought one up to her face, smelling it. It smelled absolutely delicious, so she gave it a little lick. The taste did not disappoint, and she smacked her lips as she went to complain more before pausing, looking down at the flower in her hand.

Did she really just lick a flower?

The sweet taste still in her mouth suggested that yes, she did. She turned to Pollen, who was watching the scene before her with what looked like a mixture of apprehension and… pride?

"So I'm getting side effects." Chloe stated, before shrugging, putting the flower back in the vase. "Well, as long as it doesn't happen in public, it's alright, I guess."

She held back her smile underneath her calm demeanour as Pollen squealed, rushing over and giving her a tiny hug.

"I'm so glad, my Queen! It means so much to me, that you've put enough dedication into being Queen Bee that this could happen! Oh I haven't felt so much joy in generations!"

“Relax, Pollen, it’s not like I’m the first who’s gotten side effects. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s only Carapace left now, and he’s allowed to be a little slower on the uptake than everyone else.” Chloe said, feeling a smile creeping up on her. She didn’t mind.

“But those are other kwami’s Chosen, and they’re not my Queen - you are!” Polen said, giving a little squeal of joy as she flew happy circles around Chloe’s head.

Even as Chloe complained that she was getting dizzy, her smile remained. Having Pollen around - someone who cared about her, was proud of her, and saw her as more than the girl who used to be mean to everyone in class - it really meant the world, and if she had to choose between going back to who she used to be, without Pollen or anyone who really, truly liked her, or having to remember not to lick the plantlife in public?

The choice was obvious, and one she’d make a thousand times over if she had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I really do like sappy Chloe endings, don't I?


	7. Carapace - The slow turtle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter! I was going to do 2 more after this, but one was Queen Bee getting protective and I started getting more ideas to the point where I'll probably make that its own thing once I've finished this.

“Hey Wayzz?”

“Yes, ma- uh, Nino?” Wayzz corrected.

“Will I get turtle side effects from you?” Nino asked. He was sat on his bed, idly scrolling on his phone. Wayzz was reminded of Master Fu’s struggles with the new technology, even when Wayzz figured out how to ask the Google for help.

“Yes. I imagine you will have already started developing them, though for you they’ll work differently to the others.” Wayzz explained. “The Turtle tends to have slower side effects, where the change is harder to notice. Think of it like when you grow taller - you don’t feel any taller until you compare to how you were.”

“Oh, cool.” Nino said. “Wait, so I could have side effects now and not even know?" He asked, eyes dropping from his phone to give full attention to Wayzz.

"Maybe, though any side effects are probably still unnoticeable, and even when they become noticeable, they probably still won't be as suspicious as some of the others' might be." Wayzz answered sagely.

Nino nodded, absorbing the information, before thanking Wayzz and turning back to his phone.

***

For a while, the conversation wasn’t brought back up again, and when it was, it wasn’t by either of them, but instead Alya.

She and Nino were on a date at a restaurant, celebrating the one year anniversary of them getting together. They’d gone to the zoo before this, explaining in whispers to their kwamis how Ladybug had thrown them in a cage together and they’d begun dating.

At first, Nino and Alya finding out eachothers identities made Wayzz wish he could retreat into his shell like other turtles, but soon Alya grew on him. She helped Nino, not only in fights when they were transformed, but with excuses to hide their identities, and even with more mundane things like homework.

She also made him happy, that much was obvious, but it wasn’t like Nino needed Wayzz to tell him that much.

The food they ordered came to the table, pausing their conversation. Wayzz had only been half listening - they were talking about recent akumas, but pretending they were just watching from the sidelines rather than being two fifths of the hero team involved.

They thanked the waiter before digging into their food, momentarily dipping into an easy silence as they ate. Then, Alya looked up.

“I thought you hated salad?” She asked.

Nino put up a finger to indicate she wait as he finished his mouthful. He hadn’t ordered salad, but it had come on the side with his meal and he’d eaten it first, which Wayzz probably would’ve found odd if he hadn’t seen similar things with other miraculous users across the years. Regardless, he remained silent, letting Nino speak.

“I guess I did.” Nino said, trailing off for a second before remembering. “Oh, it’s probably a side effect.” He gestured to his Miraculous vaguely, in a way that anyone who didn’t know the significance of the bracelet would miss. Alya, however, nodded.

“Makes sense.” She said. Quickly returning to her meal.

“Are you just jealous mine is easier to deal with than yours?” Nino asked, smirking at his girlfriend.

“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?” She said, but her little smile betrayed her true emotions.

Wayzz smiled as they bantered back and forth. There was no doubt about it, Nino’s relationship with Alya was well worth the reveal that came with it.

***

Nino could honestly say he wasn’t overly fussed about showering. Of course, he’d shower every day, he knew his natural musk wasn’t exactly attractive, but generally he’d just be in there long enough to get clean and then be out again.

The shower was technically also a bath, but he didn’t really use it. Nobody in the family did - it wasn’t as if they had anything against baths or anything, just that by the time you filled a bath, you could’ve had a shower.

Of course, Queen Bee differed on this opinion greatly.

“Baths are the best!” She huffed, crossing her arms. “They’re how I relax!”

The 5 superheroes were meeting on a secluded roof. The meetups to train had never really stopped, despite the fact the three heroes it was meant for were long since past needing training. They sort of just transitioned from only-ever-training to half-training-half-chatting, and then eventually it got to the point where it was now, where the only ‘training’ was when an actual akuma happened to coincide with the scheduled meetups.

“But what if you fall asleep?” Chat asked. “Then you sink into the water and drown!” From the look on his face, he was probably imagining just that.

“Trust me, as someone who’s fallen asleep in the bath more times than I can count, I can assure you that you’ll be fine.” Ladybug said, patting Chat on the head.

“You guys should try having a bath at least once!” Rena said. “Otherwise, how will you know you don’t like them?”

“I don’t-” Chat began, but Carapace put his hand over his mouth.

“Deal.” Carapace agreed for both of them, before turning to whisper to Chat. “Just agree with her - trust me, she knows how to get her way.”

Chat rolled his eyes before removing the hand over his mouth.

“Alright, aright, just one bath.” He agreed.

“And you’ll have an absolute  _ perfect _ first bath experience!” Queen Bee said, getting a determined look in her eye as she stood, moving towards the edge of the roof.

“Where are you going?” Carapace asked. Queen Bee turned around to look at him, smiling wide.

“We’re going to get you two some bath bombs!”

***

The next day found Nino stood in the bathroom, holding a carapace-inspired bath bomb as water slowly began to fill the tub.

It’d been awkward buying the bath bombs, to say the least. Queen Bee insisted on paying for the bath bombs - Nino was pretty sure she was filthy rich, and nobody exactly contested the idea, especially when she scoffed at the idea of carrying actual cash on her person.

However, in order to use her card, she’d have to be in her civilian form, and if a bunch of superheroes came nosying around, looking at some bath bombs, and some blonde girl who looked crazy similar to Queen Bee came in and bought the exact same bath bombs they’d just been looking at? Someone would definitely find out her identity.

They bounced around a few stupid ideas, like disguises (where would they get them) and illusions (which would break if touched), they decided to just let Queen Bee detransform in some nearby alley and promised they wouldn’t look.

She came back with five bath bombs, each themed after the different heroes. She pretended like she only got Ladybug and Rena bath bombs because they were part of a set, but the way she averted her eyes told a different story.

His was clearly designed off his shield, made into a powdery ball. He was kind of happy to see they were merchandising him more, though it was certainly annoying how the powder was getting all over his fingers.

“Ugh, this better be worth it…” Nino said, willing the tub to fill faster. It ignored his mental pleas.

“You know, enjoying water more may become a side effect of yours someday.” Wayzz said. He was taking a bath in the sink, which filled up much faster than the actual human bath, and honestly was more like a swimming pool in comparison to the tiny god. He had decided to go without any bath bombs or the like, preferring to wait until Nino had tried it out at least once.

“I hope not. Apparently these things are expensive.” Nino said, inspecting the bath bomb as though it’d reveal its secrets that way.

Wayzz just chuckled before ducking down to swim beneath the water, and, by the time he came up, it was just about time to use the bath bomb.

Nino added the bath bomb, watching as the water slowly turned green, swirling it occasionally to help it along. A scent rose from the water - one Nino didn’t recognise, but a nice one all the same.

The water prepared to perfection, Nino stepped in, sinking into the warm water. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what he got was something rather nice. The water was warm, and smelled good, and he couldn’t help but let a sigh escape.

“Enjoying bathtime?” Wayzz asked, somehow managing to sound genuinely inquisitive instead of smug.

“Yeah.” Nino said, a smile on his face. “I’m going to tell Alya that it’s a side effect of the Miraculous though, ‘cuz she’ll be way too smug otherwise.”

And with that, Nino closed his eyes, and truly let himself relax into bathtime.

***

One day in the future, Nino would be eating whole lettuces while soaking in a bath that should’ve made him all pruney hours ago. That, of course, was long into the future, when the teenager who first used a bath bomb had long since faded into memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never used a bath bomb in my life and haven't had a bath for ages, so if Nino's bath appreciation seems weird, it's because I have no clue how that's supposed to work.


	8. Chat Noir - Purring

"Gimme!"

Chat stood up on his tippy toes as Rena reached for the bag he was holding. It contained the last croissant Ladybug had brought from the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

"Nuh-uh!" He said, stepping backwards as she jumped towards the bag, letting her fingers close around thin air.

"You had the last croissant last time, it's my turn now!" Rena whined, stepping forwards to grab hold of his arm. He dug his feet in and tried to resist her pulling his arm down.

"I had the last one last time and I'll have it this time too!" He said, pushing her, trying to get her to let go.

Suddenly, she jumped, her fingers on course to get the bag. He yelped, instinctively reaching for his baton and smacking it down on the offending arm, using it to push her to the side with a satisfying  _ smack _ .

Rena landed on her feet - her miraculous made her even better at that than him, which landed him at the butt of many jokes when they realised.

"Um, ow!" Rena said, holding her arm.

"Oh no, are you hurt? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-!" Chat said, but was cut off as Rena whipped out her flute and swung it in retaliation, barely managing to block with his baton in time. With her other hand, she made a quick grab for the bag, but he swiped it out of her reach. With him distracted from her flute, she swung it again, forcing him to focus and block.

She continued the attack, alternating between flute attacks and grabbing for the croissant bag in a way that meant he couldn’t anticipate what she’d do, leaving him entirely on the defensive, having to take steps back as she pushed forwards on the attack.

“Yeah! Beat him up babe!” Carapace cheered, sat sprawled next to Ladybug and Queen Bee. They were used to these antics right now.

“Fight back Chat Noir!” Ladybug called out, and Chat was never one to disappoint his Lady. 

The next time Rena made a grab for the bag, he blocked her arm with his staff, quickly moving to push her back with it. She stumbled but remained on her feet, looking far from discouraged - in fact, that seemed to be fire in her eyes.

That was when things truly ramped up, as it became less and less about the bag of croissants and more and more about the baton on flute fighting.

They moved all around the rooftop, really getting into the swing of things. Though Chat was technically the more experienced fighter, the gap between him and Rena disappeared a long time ago, to the point where she was a reliable teammate in akuma battles. Right now, however, this worked to his detriment, and he found himself with a flute to the throat at the edge of the rooftop.

"I win!" Rena smiled. "Now gimme the bag."

He almost did it, but he caught Ladybug's eye.

"My lady! Catch!" He called out, and threw the bag towards her.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. Ladybug reached out to catch the bag, but so did Carapace, ever loyal to his girlfriend. For a moment, the fate of the bag hung in the balance. Would his plan work, would Ladybug catch the bag and help him win his fiercely guarded treat? Or would Carapace catch it, ruining it all?

Queen Bee's hand darted out, snatching the bag out of the air, and, before anyone could react, she whipped out the croissant and took a bite.

"Noooooooo!" Chat cried, almost not hearing Rena's similar scream in his anguish. "Betrayed by my own teammate! Queenie, how could you! Now I will never know the sweetest of treats, the most glorious of pastries. After all my toil, all my saving Paris from akuma after akuma, and this is what I get?"

He clutched a hand to his heart and dramatically died, flopping down next to Rena, who had done basically the same just earlier but with less monologing and more screaming.

"Ugh." Queen Bee said, rolling her eyes once she was certain they were done. "Honestly, are your secret identities actually just 5 year olds?"

"Excuse you, I had my 16th birthday the other day!" He said indignantly, rolling over, back alive

"I missed your birthday!" Ladybug squeaked, hands flying to cover her mouth, before realisation sparked in her eyes. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, secret identities."

"It's fine, I got presents, it's not like I was sat around sad all day." He said. For once, it was actually true - his father still didn't allow him to have a party, but he'd learnt by now to just not mention it so it was easier to sneak out to the party his friends had set up.

"Still, I feel bad." Ladybug said. "I'm going to get you a present."

"We could all have a party!" Rena suggested excitedly. "Presents, cake, decorations, cake…"

"I can provide the cake!" Ladybug said, pretending like everyone didn't know she was just going to beg a favour off of Marinette. That girl was visited by Ladybug so much it was really a surprise the Ladyblog didn't have her as a suspect for Ladybug's identity.

"I know just the best place to hold it." Queen Bee said.

"Wait, don't plan everything in front of him!" Carapace said. "Something should be a surprise!"

"Okay, okay…" Ladybug said, though it wasn't too long till they were organising the date and time of the party with him, eventually leaving the meetup early to sort out the details.

Going home early would usually be a bad thing, but today he couldn't keep a smile off his face.

***

It was the night of the party, and Chat was excited. He snuck out of his bedroom window and ran across a few rooftops before sitting down to check his messages on his baton. Ladybug had texted him, just a simple message.

**_Party at the Grand Paris Hotel_ ** 🐞

He smiled and moved off towards the hotel. He assumed someone asked a favour of Chloe. She'd been becoming a lot nicer in the past year - she hadn't gotten anyone akumatised for a while, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to assume she would help out the heroes.

As he approached the hotel, he saw a balcony decorated in black and green balloons, so landed there. There wasn't anything else on the balcony suggesting there was a party, and the balcony doors were shut, with curtains pulled across them, but the excited voices inside told him all he needed to know.

He knocked on the doors - mostly out of politeness, since last time he showed up without warning Carapace almost fell off the roof. He opened the door without waiting for a response - it was unlocked, as expected - and he pushed aside the curtain and entered.

“Happy not-birthday!” Ladybug said in greeting, giving him a quick hug before pulling him further into the room. There were more balloons in the room, with two silver balloons next to eachother, shaped as a 1 and a 6, so they spelled out 16.

Ladybug was leading him towards a row of tables at the back of the room, specifically, towards the section that had presents on it.

(The other section was snacks and the cake, which he would  _ definitely  _ be getting to later.)

“Happy belated birthday!” Rena said as she came over to the two, followed by the other heroes, who gave similar greetings.

“You should know my present is the best - it’ll probably blow all these other presents out of the water.” Queen Bee said smugly.

“You don’t even know what we got!” Rena said indignantly. “We could’ve bought something totally better than you!”

“Yeah right.” Queen Bee said, rolling her eyes.

Chat turned away from the argument as something was pressed into his hands - it was Ladybug, giving him a present, before pushing him to sit down in a chair as arguments died down as they all watched him, eager to see his reaction.

His claws made contact with the wrapping paper, but Carapace’s expression made him falter.

“You’ve gotta guess what it is first dude! That’s the whole fun of unwrapping stuff!” He said, so Chat looked down at the present in his hands. It felt like...clothes? Most of what he owned was meticulously hung up and maintained so it didn’t even think about wrinkling, and he certainly wasn’t allowed to sit around and feel up the bags they put clothes in, but at the same time...this was definitely clothes.

“Is it...clothes?” He asked, looking at Ladybug as he did so.

“Open it to see, silly kitty!” She said, smiling. It didn’t feel malicious, or ‘how do you not know that’, but just...happy.

He smiled back, and finally gave into the temptation to rip the paper apart with his awesome Chat Noir claws. The shredded paper fell away to reveal...Ladybug spots?

It was definitely clothes, just folded, so he picked it up and held it out. It was a Ladybug hoodie, complete with the little pocket he sees on that type of hoodie that everyone puts their hands in.

“Did you just Lucky Charm him whatever present he’d like the best?” Rena accused. “That’s cheating, you know.”

“Did not!” Ladybug retorted. “I made it myself! It’s reversible!”

At those words, Chat looked inside the hood, and his smile widened into a grin as he turned it inside out. The other side was a Chat Noir hoodie of the same style, complete with little kitty ears.

Then came the moment when he realised the ears had holes for the kitty ears he already had to fit in, and he just about died of happiness.

He put it on over his costume, making sure to poke his ears in the ears, still beaming.

“Chat, are you...purring?”

He didn’t notice it before, but he certainly noticed it now. He felt a...rumbling, of sorts, happening in his chest and continuing up his throat. It definitely sounded like purring.

“Woah.” He said, and it sounded like talking into a fan. He laughed at the sound, and then continued laughing at the weird sound of his laughter, and soon all the other heroes were laughing with him, and, at that moment, he knew that he’d cherish every moment he had with these people forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! That's the end of the fic!
> 
> I wanted to end on them having fun times together, but it was getting kinda strained to the end so y'all're just gonna have to imagine the superhero party shenanigans


End file.
